Elkech Leon, 20,…
By Kathianne Boniello
A young Queens Village man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday for sexually assaulting a fellow Bayside High School student in October 1999 in a boy’s bathroom at the school, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown’s office said.
Elkech Leon, 20, pleaded guilty on Jan. 26 to helping lure a 16-year-old girl to a basement bathroom at the school where he sodomized her, punched her in the face, and choked her with his hands and a belt.
Criminal Court Judge Joseph A. Grosso sentenced Leon to 15 years in jail Friday nearly 1 1/2 years after the crime occurred. Two other suspects, Parrish Jones of East Elmhurst and Jonathan Mendoza of Flushing, earlier had pleaded not guilty in the case and were awaiting trial later this year, the Queens DA’s office said.
Grosso had told the Queens Village resident, who was 18 at the time of the attack, that he could expect a minimum sentence of 10 years. Facing various charges of sodomy, kidnapping, assault and sexual abuse, Leon could have received a maximum sentence of 18 years in jail.
Brown said in a statement “this crime can only be described as horrendous and shocking in its brutality. The young woman will bear the physical and emotional scars of this vicious assault for the rest of her life.”
The brutal attack on Oct. 26, 1999 shattered the normally quiet, safe atmosphere of Bayside High School. The victim, Leon and her other alleged attackers were sophomores at the time.
Leon told Grosso that he admitted his guilt in the case because he wanted to take responsibility for his actions.
Herzog said Jones and Mendoza, now both 19, were being held on $350,000 bail and would remain in prison until trial unless a plea bargain was arranged in the meantime, according to the DA’s office.
Mendoza allegedly acted as the lookout for the three suspects during the attack, which took place in a boy’s bathroom in the basement of the high school.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
